


I know I'm not that strong.

by arfrid



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Gen, May add more characters, Warnings May Change
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:55:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26299774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arfrid/pseuds/arfrid
Summary: Mike heard a crash from his backyard.There was a girl, maybe around his age with red hair and blue eyes. She was badly hurt, with cuts and scars everywhere, dirty clothes and barbed wire in her hair.But the most alarming thing by far was this girl's back.She had wings.
Relationships: Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Mike Wheeler
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	I know I'm not that strong.

Mike heard a crash from his backyard.

Now, it was actually a fairly normal occurrence what with his friends hanging around him, and in turn, his house, and Nancy driving Holly around in a tiny pink car meant it was a regular thing that happened.

But Holly was out on a playdate with Holly and Nancy was out, and his parents were on a date, meaning that he was alone. He reveled in those times, enjoying the peaceful oblivion that was an empty house.

In a flash, he looked around for the closest thing that could be used as a weapon when he heard a painful scream coming from the same place as the crash.

Without even grabbing a weapon, he ran down the stairs and outside, determined to help whoever was in pain. He didn’t even care about the sharp stones that were cutting through his socks, he just wanted to help.

When he reached his destination, his jaw dropped.

There was a girl, maybe around his age with red hair and blue eyes.

But that wasn’t the most alarming thing. It wasn’t even the fact that her clothes looked that they hadn’t been washed for days, or that her body was littered with cuts and scars, some faded, some still bleeding, not even the fact that the girl was trying to escape from wire nets with what looked like barb wire in her hair

No, it was the wings protruding from her back. They were huge, just about the size of her body, and Mike could easily guess that they were eagle wings, judging by how big her body was in comparison.

The girl writhed and struggled, and Mike bent down over her.

“Hey, hey.” He said, trying to calm her down. She stopped trying to get out and looked at him in confusion, and he noticed her eyes were like waves, finally attempting to escape the sea and go on the sand. They then widened alarm. Again, she tried to trash out of it and he sighed and ran in, looking through cutlery and knives until he remembered he had a pocket knife with him.

He ran back out and shushed her. To her credit, she stopped what she was doing, staring at him with wide eyes. He wordlessly started attempting to cut the net. It was frustrating, but he kept trying, and eventually, it severed enough for him to pull it apart. The girl caught the idea and grabbed both of the sides of the single wire before pushing them away and to his immense surprise, she’s able to rip them apart.

Impossibly quietly, she gets up and looks around, then looks up at his trees in vague interest.

Then she starts running but falls midway.

“Shit!” She yells. “Son of a—”

She lets out a string of curse words as she clutches her leg. Mike, in mild amusement, walks up to her, and touches her wing.

She flinches hard as if she’s been burned, but she doesn’t say anything. Mike may be a bit stupid sometimes, but he knows when to _not_ do something.

“Hey, could I fix you up?” He asks her. She looks at him, extremely startled, as if that was the last thing he would ask. Her shoulders – he’d have to ask how they connected to her wings later – were heaving up and down, and she looked so honest-to-god scared, like she assumed he would hit her or something, that Mike couldn’t help but feel sorry for this feathered girl that fell in her back yard.

Hesitantly, she nodded, and held out her hand for Mike to help her up. She put an arm around his shoulders and he supported her to his house, pretending not to notice the limp as they walked.

They got to the bathroom, where she sat on the toilet and she let go, starting to shake, probably from the pain. He looked for bandages, then thought he felt something on his neck, where the girl’s hands had been. He put his fingers there for them to feel wet. They came back bloody.

He looked at her, even more alarmed, but she seemed to be extremely interested in her socks (he hadn’t noted that she hadn’t had socks either).

Eventually, he found the plasters and bandages, and knelt down to put them on her cuts and scars. She never once winced.

That started to make him nervous; he would have flinched more times than he could count.

Once he was done, he awkwardly sat there, kneeling next to the toilet. Then his gaze travelled to her wing. She didn’t react, so he got up.

“Could I…” He started, unsure how to ask. She didn’t even bother looking up, while he was staring at her wing, glancing between her and the avian muscles. “Could I touch it?”

Again, there was no reaction. It made for an awkward silence when he wasn’t sure if she had heard him, despite him being right there.

After several seconds, she looked up, confused.

“Do it.” She said, her expression mistrustful yet slightly defeated. It made him feel selfish, but his curiosity got the better of him.

He felt the wing, not noticing how much the girl tensed. It was so soft, but also so firm and steady. He thought how nice it would feel to fly, to imagine wind slapping his face, and smiled to himself.

The girl cleared her throat, and Mike stepped back, and realized that the girl had barbed wire in her hair.

“Oh, shit, sorry.” He said in quick succession, walking over quickly and picking out the pieces one by one.

It was kind of awkward, what with Mike leaning above her and Max staring into his clothes.

He noticed that she flinched each time his hand went close to her face, and he found himself giving into the impulse to not ever hurt her.

After a minute or so, he was almost done, when Max leaned into him. He blushed beet red but then realized she has fallen asleep. He wings were limp at her sides, and he vaguely wondered if he could bring her over to his room for a more comfortable sleep.

He managed to pick her up and walked into his bedroom, laying her down on the bed. She looked so blissfully unaware and so innocent when she slept in comparison when she was awake, with wide, fearful eyes and a defensive stance at all times.

He found himself being spooned by her, with one wing over them both, protecting them.

He decided he liked it.


End file.
